Let me preface this post by saying that I'm an uber-n00b. I haven't had my SF very long, and it's the first android device I've ever had, or smartphone of any variety for that matter. It's quite possible that an elegant solution to my issues already exists. Feel free to call me stupid and point me in the right direction.
So obviously, the fixed up version of the Car Cradle app in the SuperClean 2.9 ROM is a VAST improvement over the stock VZ Nav/Bing garbage. That being said, it's still not user customizable, so I tend to prefer to just use my own home screens. I've set one up that has my most used functions in the car, and some direct navigation shortcuts, etc.
So my understanding of what happens when the thing is docked - it goes into "car mode" and it launches the Car Cradle app. Exiting out of the app, but not "car mode" still makes your home button take you back to the Car Cradle app. So right now, I pop the phone in the dock, exit Car Cradle, pull down the notification bar and kill "Car Mode", and go on about my business using my phone the way I want to. However.this is far from ideal for several reasons.
First, "Car Mode" kept the screen lit up. I went in and checked "stay awake while charging" which keeps the thing on, but it still dims way down after the timeout period. While this is annoying, I could probably live with that if it were the only issue.
Second, it seems that the only way to get the sound out of the 3.5 jack on the dock and not through the phone speaker is to use the Car Cradle app. And even then, it takes some creativity to keep things going through the output jack instead of the speaker if you want to use navigation or other apps.
Is there a way to change what the "Car Mode" does? It would be nice if the thing recognized it was in the car dock, didn't launch an app and change the home button, but switched all audio to the dock output and kept the screen lit up. Then you could use your phone as you normally would, but have the advantages of having it mounted and the audio coming out of the dock jack. It would be awesome if these options showed up in a settings menu where you could configure what you want it to do when it senses that it's in the car dock.
I guess the other way to attack this is to continue to have it launch car mode and the Car Cradle app, but just make the app customizable like the homescreens are. Be able to throw shortcuts to apps you want, direct nav shortcuts, etc.
Am I the only one that feels this way? Are there already solutions in place? Can I specify just what "Car Mode" does? Thanks for reading this inexperienced man's rambling wish list.
Mike
Related
Somehow my phone went into the car dock menu yesterday, and I don't know how? I don't see the program on my phone. Has anyone seen this happen, or know how to do it again?
Doitall76
Its a magnet triggered switch. It comes up when you stick in in the car dock. The actual program is called car panel. It doesn't seem to show up in sense launcher but it does show in adw.
Just curious to know if anyone else purchased/uses the "Multimedia Dock" for the Rezound (the official one from VZW/HTC).
If so, I have an issue with the dock mode where by if I put the phone in the dock, there is no way of exiting out of the dock mode App. It's kind of a pain in the arse for me because I usually have to remove the phone from the dock for a few seconds, choose the app I want to enter, then put the phone back in the Dock and use the "recent apps" from the drop down to go back into the previous app.
On my Thunderbolt and my wife's Inc2, the Dock Mode app has a big "X" in the lower-left of the screen to exit out of the Dock app. I was mainly interested in knowing if anyone else has the same issue, or if it's just my phone that has the issue. Thanks in advance!
I have the dock and have the same issue. I mostly use the dock to stream spotify to my home receiver so it's not that big of a deal to me. It would be nice to exit of it easily though. Also the default bluetooth connection in the dock mode is hit or miss.
WorldOfJohnboy said:
Just curious to know if anyone else purchased/uses the "Multimedia Dock" for the Rezound (the official one from VZW/HTC).
If so, I have an issue with the dock mode where by if I put the phone in the dock, there is no way of exiting out of the dock mode App. It's kind of a pain in the arse for me because I usually have to remove the phone from the dock for a few seconds, choose the app I want to enter, then put the phone back in the Dock and use the "recent apps" from the drop down to go back into the previous app.
On my Thunderbolt and my wife's Inc2, the Dock Mode app has a big "X" in the lower-left of the screen to exit out of the Dock app. I was mainly interested in knowing if anyone else has the same issue, or if it's just my phone that has the issue. Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
You should be able to exit be pulling down the notification bar and exiting from there.
The same thing happens for me. One thing I noticed is that when I switched over to another launcher (ADW Ex), the dock mode doesn't launch automatically, which is a pain but does allow me to access other apps. So I guess pick your poison.
Jonezilla said:
You should be able to exit be pulling down the notification bar and exiting from there.
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Click to collapse
No, you can't it only shows an icon that says "press to return to dock mode."
At least I know it wasn't just my phone.
I do have another issue though. I was messing around with settings and disabled the auto start. Now, my phone won't launch Dock Mode at all and I don't see it listed in the app drawer. (It is under my Apps in the Settings but I can't do anything but uninstall). Anyone know how I can restore the Dock Mode?
I have also tried to locate the APK in Root Explorer, but it only asks if I want to install it. When I try, it fails to install.
EDIT: Nevermind, just remembered. You have to go into the Clock (via Weather/Clock widget) and then click Desk Clock, then press the Dock Mode Icon and you can change settings that way.
BVKnight said:
The same thing happens for me. One thing I noticed is that when I switched over to another launcher (ADW Ex), the dock mode doesn't launch automatically, which is a pain but does allow me to access other apps. So I guess pick your poison.
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Click to collapse
Yes, the Dock Mode appears to be a Sense related app/widget, so if you install a 3rd party launcher, it will kick you out of Dock Mode entirely.
Wow, I just did something... I took the phone out of the Dock. Then pressed the clock portion of my Clock/Weather widget, then hit Desk Clock, then pressed the Icon that shows the Dock Mode. Notice that the Dock Mode now shows the big X in the lower left!
That is the only way I can get it to appear though... seems as though it's an HTC glitch.
What is the fastest and easiest way way to switch between four apps in the car. For example Google Nav, Poweramp, Trapster, and a speedometer app. A wave of the hand would be nice. I have looked at several and used a few. Smart Task Switcher, a reviewer said “Was warned about this app due to access to contacts permissions which dev says is used in China for advertising”. AppSwipe only does two ( the last opened). The “car apps” say nothing about task switching or is it shown in the Youtube videos. It would be nicer if an app would isolate and load these four programs from one key push then allow fast switching. A snap of the fingers would be another way to switch between these four apps. Also, a slideshow type thing of these four apps with the option to stay on the current one showing might be an idea. Or, one app that puts to the front the needed app, like the media player about the first and last 5 seconds of a song, trapster like app that would popup during notifications, navigation about 10 seconds before and after turns, and the speedometer the rest of the time. I'm just thinking out loud. Holding down the home key is not a good fit. Bottom line is I need a better task switcher (not killer) for the auto. An app that would allow me to map a steering wheel button in my 2011 Ford Fusion SEL for task switching would be golden! A friend's suggestion was to get four phones, so that one is already out there.
I tried Car Dock Home v3. It works by using a launcher that uses the back key to return to it's home screen, then another task can be selected via a shortcut. Unfortunately it cancels Google Navigation when the back key is hit to go to CDHv3 home screen. This would have been a better solution as it takes two key presses. It would be the best solution to perform one action to cycle through the desired programs. I installed Smart Task Switcher and that was good in theory but I could not find how to configure correctly and the floating button is far too small and often requires several taps, and that is sitting at the desk. There is a paid version where some of this is supposedly settable but from my experience with this app I don't think this is a solution.
The car was the first place that came to mind. But the need to quickly and efficiently switch task is useful in several environments.
I have hit a dead end and any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hey man,Im surprised you expect a phone to act as a tomtom,mp3 player and christ knows what else simultaneously.
theunderling said:
Hey man,Im surprised you expect a phone to act as a tomtom,mp3 player and christ knows what else simultaneously.
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Click to collapse
The S2 runs everything just fine, there is just not an efficient way to switch between them.
I'm curious to know if there is a way to show the "Dock Mode" app in the app drawer and/or create a shortcut?
I know the App exists on the phone (location: /system/app/VZW_Dock_Mode.apk ) and have looked for it in the App Drawer, by clicking on the Clock app (some older phones has a Desk/Dock mode in that app), and still can't get it working.
Using Tasker, I tried to get it to launch the app when plugged in, to no avail there. I even tried creating a "dummy" profile in Tasker that just launched the app at a specific time and no-go.
Anyone know if the app can be 'manually' run or do I just have to wait for the actual dock hardware to become available? (I'd actually like to activate it when on my Qi Charging mat at night...)
OK, I sort of figured this out...
First, I downloaded free App called "QuickShortcutMaker." Then, I long-pressed empty space on my homescreen and chose to add a "Shortcut" The very first icon says "Activities" Searched for "Dock" and chose the one called "HTC Dock Screen" Done.
Of interesting note, the Dock mode only stays in portrait mode for me... wonder if that means the docks for the DNA (if and when they are released) will only show the phone in portrait mode?
WorldOfJohnboy said:
OK, I sort of figured this out...
First, I downloaded free App called "QuickShortcutMaker." Then, I long-pressed empty space on my homescreen and chose to add a "Shortcut" The very first icon says "Activities" Searched for "Dock" and chose the one called "HTC Dock Screen" Done.
Of interesting note, the Dock mode only stays in portrait mode for me... wonder if that means the docks for the DNA (if and when they are released) will only show the phone in portrait mode?
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Click to collapse
yeah, i noticed this too. ridiculous. every other HTC phone i've used with dock mode allows for portrait dock. ugh!
You can also find it through apex launcher repeating the same steps. It doesn't look to me like it's suppose to be a nightstand dock but rather an office type dock, I will investigate more
earthrocker said:
yeah, i noticed this too. ridiculous. every other HTC phone i've used with dock mode allows for portrait dock. ugh!
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You mean they allowed both portrait and landscape and yes they did, however previous HTC devices (Rezound, Thunderbolt in particular) had the USB port on the left side of the phone, so I would envision that HTC will eventually release a dock so you can flip open the stupid little 'flap' on the bottom and set the DNA in portrait mode into the base. My wife has a Moto Razr Maxx and though the USB port is on the top of that phone, the dock for that phone is landscape and you have to slide the male dock connectors into the phone. (Sounds kinky)
ML417 said:
You can also find it through apex launcher repeating the same steps. It doesn't look to me like it's suppose to be a nightstand dock but rather an office type dock, I will investigate more
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Click to collapse
Correct. I believe the Rezound (and I perhaps the Thunderbolt) had two non-car mode Dock apps... one was accessable via the Clock app (was called Desk Mode or something like that) which was more of a nighttime dock with the clock, and then when you put the phone in the HTC branded "Multimedia" docks, it would start the HTC Dock Screen. Unfortunately the DNA didn't have the Desk Mode option, and there are no Multimedia Docks out there for them yet.
I also noticed that you can actually use the "Tasker" app to initiate the HTC Dock Screen app, as they allow you to start Apps that don't show up in the App Drawer. Unfortunately, Tasker doesn't have any support for Qi Wireless Charging states, so I had to create a profile that starts the Dock Screen whenever the phone is being charged until the Tasker Devs add the Wireless Charging support.
I have an Android 9.0 car stereo unit
Of course, it's permanently in landscape mode.
I have the dock set to the right-hand side of the screen, with the apps I use most.
However, when I launch an app, the dock disappears.
Is it possible to always display the dock?
The unit can not be rooted (as far as I know).
I'm happy to use any launcher/tweak.
I do not wish to use Android Auto.